Just a typical Christmas Story : A Different- What?
by Hanako-chama
Summary: Seriously... This is another typical Christmas story, ignore it if you're tired of reading more Christmas stories. Except for the fact that a certain summoner and a dancer a plotting something malicious and a certain wanderer and his sword became a little different from the usual...


Um... merry christmas? yeah... i think i'm late. but i fell asleep when the internet lagged...  
oh lord don't get mem started to why i decided to make this...

In any case, there are a couple of references to my previous work, A different Prime Knight.

* * *

That day, something different happened.

No, Elesis wasn't taking the day easy. No, Ryan wasn't shutting up about nature and all. No, Amy wasn't being humble and not talking about how pretty she was. No, don't even think about Sieghart wasn't skipping his naps, cause you all know Sieghart. And you guys know that Dio would never turn down an opportunity to destroy that sleeping bastard.

It was just that, cutely walking in the hallways of Serdin Castle, was a little gray haired boy, looking up to his superiors so innocently. He held on tightly on to a massive steel claw that dragged him everywhere. The blade-like creature was massive compared to everyone, tail whipping around like a dangerous flail, growled at everyone who tried to get near to them, let alone look their way.

"Grandark. Cease your growling. They are undesirable." The creature ceased, looking backwards to only see a blue haired hetero eyed woman. She was flipping to the next page of her book, swiftly walking next to the demon. Mari merely gave him a warning glare before she returned to her own pace. "I can't concentrate on my book."

"Then stop following me, you damned woman..!" He growled back in utter rage. But when the grip of tiny fingers tightened on his claw, he clicked his tongue and stood his ground, keeping control of his anger. He knew that no matter what, if he wanted everything to return to how it was, he had to be at the rune caster's mercy.

"Gran…" whined the gray haired child. A light bandage covered his upper half of his face, yet one could see that his glowing yellow eyes were very visible. And they just stared straight into the lime eyes of the sword hybrid.

"Yeah, yeah.. I don't need a kid to tell me what to do.." The sword growled, looking away from those innocent looking eyes. His other claw had involuntarily raised and scratched the back of his neck.

"Instead, it seems the presence of a child-like Zero is enough for you to do what is right." Mari mumbled to herself, ignoring the sword's raged glower towards her. He then snorted in irk, that he had to be in the mercy of both a child and a human woman. Especially when he was in that form.

This duo was the infamous vagabond pair in the Grand Chase, Grandark and Zero. Except that the only thing that was different was the fact that Grandark was a human-sword hybrid, and Zero… Well, he's a cute little kid.

So how did those two end up like that you may ask? Well, of course, it's the author's fault for writing up this story. And well, it all started just a few weeks ago.

* * *

"Oops!"

She chirped as she accidentally pricked herself on the hook of the ornament after trying to place it on to the huge green tree. She blinked when she heard not even a ting from the dropped ornament and saw that there was a man standing on the side of the ladder, a small decoration in hand. "Thanks for catching that for me, Zero."

She slid down the ladder, keeping her pink eyes on to the wanderer. Oddly enough, he was actually staring at the decoration. Well, not like his usual nerve-wreaking stares that he gives to everything else to the point the whole Grand Chase got used to being glared at. She noticed that he was staring at the shiny little thing… Too differently.

But she shrugged it off anyways. There was no way he would care about it.

As the girl reached her hands out, the wanderer automatically dropped the object into her hands. "Thanks again for catching this. You're a life saver, you know. If it broke, I have to get a new set and that means I'll have to go through the trouble of getting permission to take money out of the Grand Chase's treasury and since Lire's in charge of the money now, things get messy with Lire and money, you know."

The gray haired demon merely nodded in agreement, disappointing the girl. She knew, despite being the most childish one plus the most outgoing one plus the most popular one, she, Amy Aruha, could never get that silent demon to even get into a proper conversation. Nevertheless, she was also one who could never give up. "Well, Zero. Are you ready for Christmas? Some of the chasers are going to their home towns and all, so it's going to be a little lonely for those who can't commute back so easily, so I'm just going to liven things up this year by putting up some decorations~!"

Christmas was around the corner. Zero recalled the event being an annual human tradition where they celebrate togetherness and give presents to those they care about. Well, that was according to Ley who had the time to pay attention to humans, rather than Dio who cared about his own troubles and Rufus who didn't give a damn to everything else but his bounty hunts.

The pink haired demon was strangely giddy for some reason. She had been floating with Amy most of the time, giggling and making her infamous suspicious smirks of hers most of her time. Dio's advise to him: "Keep your guard up. She's planning up those stupid girl things with that human which always leads their prey to total shit."

And truth be told, Zero took his advice with utter caution. He knew girls tend to be crazy and dangerous at one point, especially when it came to the duo that was Ley and Amy. The last time they planned something, Ryan nearly got assaulted and was temporarily traumatized when he was forced to dress up as a woman and pushed into a bar full of men.

"Amy, I recall the Knightmaster giving us a few days off at those days, so I shall take the opportunity to return and visit my master." The demon solemnly spoke once his cadmium eyes caught the attention of a hanging clock. "Excuse me."

As he hurried away, the diva smiled childishly. She couldn't help but wave to him in delight. "Okay then, have fun!" She shouted in joy, but then flinched when she saw that sword of his glower at her in anger. "That's sword's a kill joy…"

'… What a load of crap. We aren't going to that old freak, are we?' An amused growl came from behind him. Grandark hummed, pleased in what devious act his wielder had done. 'I wasn't aware you could lie so easily. So tell me, what lies have you fed _me_?'

'It's not a lie. It's a diversion.' The wanderer corrected, 'Will you be pleased if those two have chosen me as their target? Usually, it includes your humiliation as well…'

'Just shut up and move your butt!' The sword retorted. Zero merely sighed to how his sword could be so troublesome to work with yet can be so compatible to be with. Nevertheless, he hastens his pace towards the Knightmaster's room.

He was summoned by the blond knight for a mission to Kerrie Beach. The monsters there were acting up again after their feathered leader woke up from her slumber and regained her full powers. He hoped that there would be tons of monsters to fight and suppress. If he was lucky enough, he could stay there until Ley and Amy had done their mischief back in the castle.

At the end of the hallway, he could see a lone man, leaning on the wall just next to the enormous entrance of the Knightmnaster's study. The sight of white hair told him that it was Lass who had arrived earlier than he had, whistling quietly to himself. Blue eyes blinked up and greeted the demon as he came closer. But they hesitated the moment he saw a glowering lime colored eye.

You see, from our last episode, the thief and his half brother had decided to dare each other to turn the wanderer into a mindless fighting machine of a Prime Knight. And boy was Grandark angry about it. It taught Lass a lesson to never mess with the possessions of the sword, and to finally acknowledges Zero to be his property (That just disturbed the wanderer, but who was he to say anything.)

"Don't go in yet… Rufus is negotiating with the Knightmaster for another mission we could go on…" The thief grunted silently, still cautious of the blade that stared at him dangerously. Zero nodded in understanding. Whenever Rufus negotiated, he wouldn't stop until he had all favors on his side, and usually these verbal fights of his with the blond knight were tremendously terrible to partake in, let alone be in its presence.

The door swung open and out came a satisfied bounty hunter. "Lass, I got her to change ours to Victor's Castle. We'll be back right after Christmas since we can drop by at our respective homes from there. By then, those two fools would have already done their prank on some other sad sap." The thief couldn't help but smile in content that they'll be out of the range of the predators.

Zero then tried to assume why the demon had decided on changing missions. Lass was usually the source of information in most cases in the Grand Chase. He'd hunt down any knowledge he could find. That would definitely include what trouble the two women were brewing up. Then with Rufus' negotiating skills, they would easily slip away from their wrath. Cunning pair of brothers….

The bounty hunter's eyes then fell on to the demon next to him, then on to the sword. At that moment, Zero swore he had seen the brunette flinch, but it was obvious he didn't show it. "Zero.. _Grandark_…"

'Did that brat sneer at my name?!' The blade growled, though ignored by others. The wanderer instead, assumed that he was actually trying his best to acknowledge the sword's presence, especially from the last time they caused trouble for them (even if they knew that the real source of the trouble was from someone else).

"I was summoned here for a mission." Zero commented, seeing as the brunette demon kept staring at him.

"… This time, those two fools are aiming for a male target. We don't really know who exactly it is, but just in case, I got Knightmaster to change your mission to something that should buy you time… As a means to return our debt to you…" He then turned and walked away, leading the silver haired towards the outside world. Zero paused with concern.

'What debt..?' thought the wanderer. He had done nothing much to aid the pair of brothers. Well, he couldn't really recall anything but…

'Is that his way of begging for forgiveness? How pathetic…' Grandark spat in disgust, and then laughed with full pride. Zero sighed as he understood what the blade meant. Both Lass and Rufus did cause them trouble in the Prime Knight incident. The gray haired demon merely nodded in acceptance to their actions and entered the Knightmaster's study.

* * *

"It seems that someone's taking your place at Kerrie's Beach…" trailed the Knightmaster as she shifted her way through the masses of paperwork on her desk, "so you'll go to Kastille Ruins and sustain those annoying skeletal soldiers that are rising up again…"

"Yes."

"I recall Mari had returned from around Kaze'Aze's Castle for some research so you should drop by her place if she still has a teleportation system set up." The moment she said that, the wanderer had given a grunt and set off without another word. The blond sighed. "Jeez… Those guys are just so desperate to run off…"

From Rufus, she had heard the current situation. Ley and Amy's next target was a male. This, of course, sent the rest of the male Grand Chase running off. Ronan volunteered to work his butt off back at Kanavan. Ryan locked himself up inside his own solitude of nature. Jin went to have his training trips and Asin had followed after (she swore she heard him mumble something about beating him up but she assumed it was those disciple things). Sieghart, being Sieghart, disappeared from the face of the earth momentarily (or found the perfect sleeping spot). And Dio, well… He was going to use Sebastian as a sacrifice.

She sighed. Why in Aernas are they doing this? It was near Christmas and she wanted her peaceful holiday as well. But who was she to control this situation when Ley had one of the most dangerous abilities that mankind faced. Blackmail.

"Oh Lothos~" The blond shivered at the sinful whisper of her name. She whipped her head up only to have a shock of her lifetime to meet a pair of light turquoise eyes staring at her at point blank.

"GAAAAAHH!"

"Hehehehe~" She giggled through her fiendish fangs at the sight of Knightmaster jolting back in astonishment. The pink haired demon floated to her side and slinked to her arm. "I didn't know dear Lothos could scream so cutely~"

"S-shut up! And don't address me as if you're close! I am still your superior!" The human stood hastily, regaining her composure before the demon. "Now, what do you want, Ley?!"

"Aww… Come now, we're all friends, no?" Ley cooed into her ear happily, sending shivers down the blond's spine. In amusement, she then retreated away, leaving the woman to recover her self-control once more. "Well, I'm just here to ask you for something…"

"If it's about the men, I'll mention nothing." She growled back, involuntarily stepping further away from the summoner. "You and Amy have already ripped apart the Grand Chase, what trouble are you asking for? This is Christmas, for Starklin's sake! A time of togetherness! Even you know that, the least you could do is respect our human traditions!"

Ley blinked, and then smirked happily. "Oh dear Lothos, no~! I would never do that~" She purred sinfully and made herself comfortably floating in the air before her. "You see… What Amy and I are planning is something that actually pulls everyone closer instead…" Her hand then pulls out a small black book out of her pockets, giving mischievous glare to the knight. "Now where did you send him…?"

"Eeeerrmm….."

* * *

'That's the last of them…' The wanderer swung his blade and shattered the last skeletons to mere dusts and bones. He immediately grunted and heaved the sword to his back. Taking a glance to the sky above him, he sighed.

It had been a week since he was posted to work at the Kastille Ruins. He had spent day after day, grinding on countless mobs like he had done back when he was still a vagabond wanderer. His goal was to only get himself stronger so he could face Duel and retrieve back Transcendence and Eclipse.

And with all honestly, he felt different. Usually, he felt nothing when he finished obliterating hordes of monsters. But this time, he just felt this sudden strangeness in the depth of his guts.

'Gran… Mission's complete… Shall we go back?'

'Of course! Where else are we going?! I demand you to clean me from these wretched blood and dusts!' The sword growled as usual, before he paused in thought. '… Since when do you ask me if we should go back…?'

'… I just have a strange feeling inside…'

'Must be hunger.' Grandark replied bluntly and Zero blinked. The sword did have a point. He hadn't had a decent meal in the past week, so it must be the reason. He then headed straight towards the teleportation system Mari had left there for them to return with.

Stepping onto the machine, always gave the wanderer a cold feeling. Truthfully, he rather walk home, but whilst in the Kastille Ruins, Mari had dropped by before she headed to Kaze'Aze's former castle again.

_"Dio had forced me to pass on a message to you, Zero…" The girl muttered, spectating the wanderer's fight without a care if he was winning or losing. "The idiots are going to pounce on you when you return. Find some other way to get back."_

After saying that, she merely left him to finish up his business. Thankfully, it was before Zero was able to request that the rune caster should keep the teleportation system a secret and that he may use it to return without getting caught by the pranksters. Mari had nodded without emotions, but the wanderer could tell she knew how he felt.

She, as well, had been victimized by them. And well… It was a chapter of everyone's lives that should never be opened ever again…

He groaned. Why was it him this time? He couldn't recall doing anything offensive to them. Actually, he couldn't recall anyone doing anything offensive to them (excluding the usual insults thrown here and there). Nevertheless, he did give a silent thank you to the purple demon back at home. Dio wasn't what he could call a friend, but not a best friend either – they were close but at the same, not so very close. Blame Grandark for being overprotective and possessive to the point he hated people who wanted to be his friend….

Clicking on a button lightly, Zero felt the tingling surge of technology that blurred his sight of the ruins. Gradually the scene deformed and a dull and messy laboratory environment was being recreated in his vision. He shook his head when everything stabled itself. He swore he could never get used to this...

'BEHIND YOU, IDIOT!'

THWACK!

'Idiot..! W,,ke up! Oi! You stu…id wo…n! Le... me… o! …..!'

* * *

"…"

"…..!"

"Hey!"

Cadmium eyes blinked open in shock to an awkwardly familiar voice. Familiar because it was one he was definitely used to hearing. Awkward because he wasn't used to hearing it so clearly. As if it was really coming from a real warm throat.

"So you're awake…"

He blinked once more, this time in astonishment to how real the voice actually felt. When he looked up, he saw a huge demonic creature with a distinctive green horn on one side of his head, fairly gray skin and just the most terrifying colored lime eyes he had ever seen.

"G-gran?!" He squeaked in shock of the sword in its demon hybrid form. How did he manage to transform into that infernal, horrifying state?! And- Wait a minute… He squeaked?!

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" The green haired (if you could call that lump of shards on his head) demon laughed in glee. His giant metallic claw had reached out to him and ruffled his hair hard. "Can't believe you could make a sound like that!"

"Stop it! It hurts, Gran!" He whined in protest, only to surprise the both of them. Grandark looked at him as if he found something new. On the other hand, he looked at the demon- no… He looked at everything around him. Everything was larger than how he remembered.

"So a kiddie version of Zero has every stat reduced to how a kid should be, eh…" The lime eyed creature smirked deviously as he grabbed Zero's ear and tugged it lightly, earning himself a petite and cute grunt out of the little gray haired demon.

"K-kiddie?!" Zero yelped as he batted the claws off of him helplessly. Once free, he scrambled to anything relatively close to what he could call a mirror. And what he found was the large cadmium eyes of an innocent little boy with long gray hair and somewhat conspicuous pointy elven ears that just sticks out of nowhere. "Haaa?!"

Suddenly a huge mass of cloth was dropped on him, shocking him momentarily. As he tried to free himself from the fabric monster that had conquered over him, he heard voices.

"Those two idiots found out that Zero was going to return via your teleportation thingy so they ambushed us and knocked him out. Then we got shoved it this other thingy and changed us into what we are now. I'm surprised you even kept this thingy…"

"It is not a '_thingy_', Grandark. It is my transformation system." Cool and collected voice answered the rough tone of the demon-sword hybrid. As Zero popped his tiny head, along with his pointy floppy ears, he saw Mari was already holding her book and writing her observations as she scanned over the metallic demon. "And yes. I had to keep it in case it needed to be used again… But I don't know how those two even found out that I kept this machine, let alone know that you two were returning via my transportation system…"

"Doesn't seem like a problem to me. With this body, I can just ditch you all and kick that pathetic excuse of a demon's ass and claim Transcendence and Eclipse to myself!" Grandark laughed happily with his flail-like tail wagging madly.

"On the contrary, Grandark… I didn't successfully develop this thing for that reason alone. So your transformation is temporary." She blinked at the sudden decline of mood of the blade. Her hetero eyes then fell on to the gray haired child. His yellow eyes were still fixed on the both of them. "But on the other hand… Zero's transformation might not be…"

"What do you mean by that….?!" A low threatening growl seeped out of Grandark as he glared at the human. She ignored it and kneeled down, grabbing the cloth around the now young demon and wrapping around him carefully.

"Do you recall the last time I had used this machine? I had Rufus become my supply to transform you into a humanoid. But to be more specific, I used his energy which was an ideal source of power as it is renewable." Mari patted the young demon before she lifted him up by his arms. "In this situation, it seems that Ley and Amy had programmed the system, Kounat knows how, to take away more than just energy from Zero…"

"Life force?" Zero peeped, staring back at the hetero eyes. Mari merely blinked at the yellow eyes before turning away from them and forcing the child onto the demon's claws.

"That is correct… Life force is something relatively hard to create, let alone extract from something. But since you were an artificial demon, that rule doesn't seem to apply."

"Why the hell would that junk of yours be capable of doing that?!" Grandark growled in anger, watching the girl moving about in her cramped laboratory in search of something.

"I was planning on using Sieghart's immortality…. That man is a waste of space most of the time…"

"… Fair enough…" He grunted. "So... His life force is used to make what I am now? I don't really mind that… But the drawback is that this is temporary but Zero's form isn't… This is a load of shit…"

Mari picked up a thick folder and some bandages. "For the both of us, it seems… If you were to revert back to your sword form, you would be left with a small wielder who is incapable of holding you unless he grows. And since it is my machine I have to take responsibility by fixing the situation..."

* * *

So toddling around the vicinity of the Grand Chase was a seemingly seven year old version of Zero, with bandages as a substitute for his mask and hand-me-downs that was dug up from storage. He was dragged around by his temporary metallic guardian, Grandark, wearing his clothes… That was ripped apart due to his huge body and blades. And he was also followed by Mari who had to observe the both of them cautiously in case anything sudden happens.

_"Well… I can only assume that when you revert back to your old form, some life force may be expelled out of your body. I may be able to harness that power for Zero to grow. Though, I can't guarantee whether he'll grow back to his original size…"_

That was what the woman told the sword and that was the reason he let her follow them around. Frankly, they didn't really have anything to do, especially when Zero was that small. Yet to her it was extremely hard to predict where they'll be.

Usually, the wanderer spent most of his time training (Elesis would gladly waste her energy trying to figure out where he had learnt his familiar skills as she battled head on with the demon). If not, at the library, studying for a way to strengthen himself (But the sword would always complain it was in naught as human knowledge was very limited). Or if there were nothing possible to do, there was always listening to the other chasers ramble on and on about their lives and pick out any significant information that may or may not be useful (Grandark's idea, of course). So why was it hard to track down the wanderer?

Mari grunted lightly to herself. 'He lives up to his name as a wanderer… Without intention, he just gets himself easily out of sight of others…' She then sighed. Why, oh why was she forced to do this? She could have used her time on researching on her latest project; creating a massive portal that could defy time and dimension so she could travel back in time to stop all this evil from happening… Well, something similar to that.

The thought of Amy and Ley fired her temptation to kill. Those two were at fault for this. They were going on the top of her 'to-experiment-on-without-mercy' list, which was a first as it had always been Sieghart's position, since he's immortal and will be a waste of space if he just did whatever he wanted to do. What benefit were they going to get after doing this? Obviously a lot of trouble heading towards them, and Grandark's pretty violent after he beaten up Sieghart (even in sword form).

"Uwaaaaaa!" A terrifyingly high pitched squeal filled their ears as well as the hallways. Out of nowhere, a wild purple haired magician came out and dashed for it. Ignoring the sword hybrid's roar, she launched herself forth and picked up the child demon. "OHMIGAWSH! HE'S SO CUTE!"

"HEY FREAK! GIVE ME BACK MY KID!" Grandark bellowed and tore apart the connection between the girl and the child. Wrapping his claws around Zero, he hissed in fury to her.

Coherent thoughts now begin to manifest the girl's mind as she back away immediately, now realizing she was standing before a scary, metalloid demon. "S-sorry! I was just- He was just- so c-cute and.."

"Arme. No need to fret. This is just Grandark and Zero." Mari came from behind her with her uncaring tone that startled the girl. "Under certain circumstances, they have to be in this form."

"R-really?! Zero, is that really you?!" Forgetting the presence of a mad demon, Arme leaned forth and poked the small wanderer's cheek. "You're so tiny and cute!"

"Please, Arme. Refrain yourself from poking me… It tickles…" As much as he wanted to, Zero tried extremely hard to deepen his voice so he didn't fully sound so squeaky and childish. But to no avail as the teen magician stared at him with more awe, and on the sidelines, the rune caster snickered lightly and Grandark was just laughing his head off to the comical attempt. The wanderer groaned in irk.

"What's this? You're capable of being moody?" the sword hybrid teased in muse, continuing to poke the gray haired demon. But the more the hybrid played, the more the demon growled in annoyance. It was clear to both girls that Grandark found a new toy to play with and Zero was desperately hanging on to the very edges of his patience as usual.

But what came as a surprise was that Zero actually punched the sword back in anger. In the moment of astonishment, the demon jumped off the emerald haired hybrid's arms and ran off, "GRANDARK, YOU OLD JUNK! I HATE YOU!"

Shocked to what just happened, three pairs of eyes blinked blankly. Grandark was the first to break the awkward ice. "That brat dares to insult me…"

"It seems that his body wasn't the only thing that turned into a child's. His mentality changed as well…" Mari muttered, quickly noting down a new observation into her book. "So to speak, he'll have the usual lack of control of patience as any child would be in their tantrums…"

"Tantrum, eh?" The sword hybrid grunted and then chuckled. "Ah well… At least he's finally showing the fact he's annoyed…"

"But doesn't that mean that he'll get lost in the castle like a child would…?" Arme muttered, sending a grave feeling into the depths of the sword and the rune caster. Instantaneously, Grandark ran for it.

"ZERO, YOU BRAT! COME BACK HERE!"

"Arme, will you help us? Tell all chasers to keep a lookout for a child who looks like Zero!" The rune caster shouted as she ran after the hybrid. Of course, to be specific, she imposed the duty selfishly to the magician. Then again, Arme couldn't help but smile a little.

* * *

"OWCH!"

"Oh?" The red head glanced down only to see a fuzz of gray. Then he noticed pointed elf like ears that came from nowhere. Then the bandage over his eyes. He picked the little being up and looked closely at it and smiled happily. "Hey~! Someone made a kid cosplay as Zero!"

"Really? I thought it was an odd little monster that got loose from the prison or something…" A cold drone came from behind the red head. A pair of red eyes looked down on to the child in loathe causing a strange feeling come about in the kid.

"Scary evil disciple!" He whined in fear, desperately trying to run away from the grasp of the red head.

"Awww… Asin! You made him scared," he laughed, with gold eyes still looking at the child warmly, calming him. "Actually, Asin always looks like that, but he's not evil. Right, Asin?"

Zero blinked at him and remembered how Jin could really be gullible and naïve to not notice that the disciple was actually emitting some dark, murderous aura as he smiled gently back at the fighter. "… Stupid Jin can't see the real thing…"

"W-what?!" He yelled in shock that he had been insulted by a child. "N-no! I'm not stupid! You're not supposed to call your elders stupid!"

"Stupid Jin is not older than me." Zero commented blandly.

As the red head flustered, Asin leaned down to glare at the kid. "Hmm… Interesting… You're actually a smart kid." He then patted the gray haired demon. "I admire your use of age to insult people so freely and your use of innocence to get away from trouble. You'll grow up to be a good kid."

"What is that supposed to mean, Asin?!" Jin yowled back, setting the child down. "You know, a good upbringing leads to a good man! And what you said will make him evil!"

"Or an honest, straightforward man who will never lie?" the lilac haired man rebutted, sending the red head to groan in failure.

"Oh who cares…" Jin grunted, still not admitting defeat as he crouched down. "Kid, where are you from anyways? Don't you need to be with your parents or your guardians or something?"

"No! Grandark's a meanie who always picks on me…" He pouted crossly, perking the interest of the two men. Now, no one spoke about Grandark unless Zero was involved in the conversation, but a normal Zero wouldn't even say something like that. Scratch that. He wouldn't even converse to anyone about himself, let alone complain. The child almost represented the demon's inner self.

Asin kneeled down and patted the demon. "So you really are Zero…"

"E-eh?! You mean it's not just a kid cosplaying?!" Jin jerked back in surprise, seeing that the disciple had taken the hand of the child.

"No wonder he called you stupid, stupid." Red eyes jeered at gold and then looked down to the masked wanderer, ignoring Jin's immediate yowl of protest. As much as the disciple hated taking care of children (especially when most of the characters in the Grand Chase acted like one), he had thought of a malicious plan to play with the wanderer. Asin had guessed that the wanderer not only turned into a child but had the attitude of one as well. "Well, Zero… Why don't you follow under me for a while? Maybe you'll rather play with me than Grandark."

"Let's play!" The both men blinked a couple of times to see if they weren't dreaming as they had noticed the demon had not only registered 'play' and deleted everything else, his ears had also perked in happiness. Like a dog wagging his tail. In any case, the disciple was also utterly entertained to the sudden change of attitude the demon had towards him.

"Okay… Didn't know demon ears worked that way…" Jin muttered in curiosity, leering closely towards them. At the same time, he tried to follow the two who were leading away.

"So, where are we going?"

"Towards Lire's bedroom!"

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK

"Yes?" Cheeped a blond elf that popped her head out of her room. She was suddenly astonished when she saw no one was there. She frowned in anger, assuming someone was pranking her again.

"Hallo Missus Lire~!" A friendly greeting instantly came out of nowhere, startling the elf. She then realized that it came from below and there, a cute gray haired demon child stared right back at her.

"Awww~! Hello there, little one." The archer kneeled down to his level and shook his hand. Though, he only let go after he gave a quick gentle kiss, touching the girl's heart. Ears turning red to how tender a child could be, she smiled at him. "So what does a gentleman like you need from me?"

"There you are!" A voice from afar echoed through the hallways. Asin was running straight towards them, with Jin scrambling to catch up. He leaped forward and grabbed the mini wanderer. "Zero! Don't just leave whenever you want! It'll be bad if anything happens!"

"Zero? Really?" Sarcasm flowed with her words as Lire stood, eyeing the three suspiciously.

"It's true. Somehow, Zero got transformed into a kid. It's temporary though, but Mari told us to keep watch on him until he reverts back." The disciple explained to her with a tone of plead for belief. He had desperately recalled every word the little wanderer had mentioned when he interrogated him of the situation. Luckily, Zero's naivety (due to his childish mentality) gave him some answers quickly and all he had to do was to put the puzzle pieces together. Red eyes then looked to the wanderer. "Now why were you at Lire's place? She's always busy, you know, being an important person she is…"

Again, Zero had successfully amazed those around him when his ears drooped down. "I just wanted some candy… So I remembered Lire kept some money and…." He just trailed away, turning towards the archer with innocence.

"Uh… Sure, why not? Eheheh… It is the holiday season anyways so there's bounds to be discounts…" The elf laughed dryly at the mercy of the purity of the demon child. "L-let me go get the key to the treasury, alright?"

When the blond had gone back into the depths of her room, all three boys hissed in victory. "What'd I tell you, Zero. Use everything to your advantage and you'll get what you deserve!" Asin snickered slyly, seeing that all had gone according to plan. Soon enough, it wasn't just sweet treats that'll land in their hands.

"I'm still unsure about this, Asin, but if you're buying me a new tonfa, then I'll just look over it…" Jin muttered, yet he gave a high-five to the little wanderer in their success (even if he had little to nothing in participating).

"Of course, it's fine." The disciple answered with a large smile, but inside, he laughed psychotically. There was no way he'd just buy the fighter a new pair of tonfa. He was planning letting Zero play with them for a bit and 'accidentally' knock out the fighter and once they think he's just 'playing dead', Asin could just make him disappear permanently. Even better, neither Zero nor he would be blamed for such a coincidental mishap.

"Here they are~" Coming out with a cheerful grin was Lire and some jingling keys. "Now let's go to the treasure room and fill your tummy with some tasty candy, alright Zero?"

"I'm sowwy if we are taking your time, Missus Lire…" The demon squeaked as he pressed himself onto the elf's leg, hugging it apologetically. He didn't know why the lilac haired man had told him to act gentlemanly towards the girl, but it seemed to have worked as she began to spoil him more by lifting him up and carrying him by her shoulders.

"It's no trouble, Zero. I was just doing some quiet reading."

"Wow. You must be one of the few people in this castle who bothers to read instead of getting preppy for Christmas." Asin commented despite not really caring.

"Well… We elves don't really celebrate it." She blandly answered, leading the party towards the treasury.

* * *

"Why am I dragged out here as well….?" A low reluctant groan seeped out in between hid pale lips. He shivered in the cold air of the streets of Serdin, trying his best to regain his warmth by rubbing himself vigorously. Though, the rest already saw his numerous layers of thick clothes as enough.

"Shut the crap, Kanavan freak. You have no bloody idea what I'm feeling." The sword hybrid in front of him spat. Blue eyes only glared back at him because he knew that the hybrid didn't feel anything at all. In fact, Ronan actually envied his disability to feel anything at all. But it was just temporarily because he had come to realize that the hybrid was fully metal and had no body warmth whatsoever.

"Sad thing to be in Christmas…" The spell knight muttered to himself, rubbing his gloved hands together.

"What did you say, Kanavan freak?!" Grandark snapped back in irritation.

"He just said it sad for you to be something with no body warmth in Christmas." On the other side, an irked tone came from another knight, or to be specific, a Holy Knight. Lime glared crossly at the spell knight. "That's rude, Ronan. We're all friends in the Grand Chase, and we should treat each other like one."

"I don't recall calling anyone a _friend_." The sword growled back, "And why the hell do you think so? I don't celebrate Christmas and I plan not to ever do it." He was leading the party with his tail selfishly swaying left and right, forcing bystanders away and creating a clear path for them to walk. It was beneficial, really, as the world was gloriously celebrating the season's holiday, they flood the shops and cafés due to the large discounts offered.

"Well, Christmas is a time when people who love each other can happily share their moments, and this love can also include friends." The blond chirped with enthusiasm for the event. "And Grandark, don't say that. I know you're mad because Zero's gone. Cheer up, okay? I'll make some cookies for you later~!"

"I don't think he needs to eat since he's a metal humanoid, Lime. You'll just waste ingredients…" Ronan muttered under his breath, yet both had caught what he said. So the Holy Knight scolded him for his rudeness. In front, Grandark groaned in irk. Why the hell was he roaming in the streets of Serdin with those two idiots?!

Well, something had suddenly come up that needed Mari's attention (which Grandark swore at because being the selfish demon he was, he expected that his needs were to be kept top priority). In any case, if Zero were to return, she would be there to see him (And just in case, Arme was still searching for the wanderer in the castle grounds). So taking her place was Ronan, since he was quite skilled in the arcane arts of magic. But the spell knight was just dreadfully reluctant to follow the demon, especially after being humiliated by the sword because he had froze at the scene of an epic battle between four separate superpowers that included Sieghart, Dio, a deranged Zero and the sword himself.

And apparently, the holy knight happened to spot a small fluff of gray with pointed elven ears running towards the shopping district when she had decided to go out and buy some cooking supplies. She seemed so fired up to accompany the two men. Then again, the first impression of the girl that most… All the chasers had were that she was just delirious and needed something checked in her head because of her strange, over-the-edge optimism and her obsession for justice.

'But it doesn't mean that idiot can follow us around… I don't want to be surrounded by idiots. Who knows if stupidity was contagious?! I'm not interested in finding it out…' Lime eyes took a glance back to the blond knight that waved joyfully to the commoners. Strangely enough, just the mere sight of the girl was already lifting the spirits of the people around him. Grandark snorted. 'Actually… It must be contagious… And these lesser beings are catching it faster…'

Then he noticed a certain orange haired being that he knew could be useful in these situations. Figures, the guy was in front of a flower shop, gazing blissfully at the plants. Without a care of what the two men behind him were doing, he made his way towards the being (in any case, he knew that Ronan had to follow him no matter what and he didn't give a damn to what the immortal wanted to do).

"Hey. Nature Freak!"

"Eh?!" The elf jolted to the nickname that Grandark had uncaringly made for him, and panicked at the sight of a larger male approaching him. The sword had thought that the elf must still be slightly traumatized after the bar incident so he had done such a reaction. Then the sight of a white berry hanging lonely above him caught his attention. Which lead to the creation of a nasty idea.

"There's a mistletoe above you," Grandark commented leaning closer to the elf, tail slinking behind him to keep him from running. He recalled that the humans had used the object as a ritual item for a pair who stood under it to kiss each other or something like that (he had to admit, sometimes Ley's nosiness to human culture proved to be a little useful).

When Ryan saw the plant, he just fell in utter horror. The face that he was making was beyond the sword hybrid's expectations that he actually had trouble holding his laughter inside of him. "Ehh?! B-but-! Um…! No, this is! This is wrong a- and!" The poor elf was so scared, his stuttering had diminished into mere mumbles of cower.

"Grandark! Where in Kanavan's name are you?!" Ronan's blue hair had definitely stood out and approached the pair quickly. Grandark reached out his arms aaaaaaand….

"Here you go, Kanavan freak! Something to heat you up!"

"WHAT THE-!"

"GYAA-!"

SMACK

"AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHH!" A screeching scream blasted from the mouth of the druid as he frantically ran from the spell knight and straight towards a familiar harmless holy knight for cover. "LIME! KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

"Eh?! Ryan, what's the matter? It's just Ronan. And that demon there is actually the personification of Grandark, Zero's sword. Nothing's scary about them." She stared at them ignorantly, trying to decipher what scene had just happened. The demon seems to be really happy and laughing pretty hard. As for Ronan, he had turned beet red from one ear to another, hands covering his mouth desperately. But the girl assumed that Ronan must have found a way to warm himself up.

She _really_ had no idea….

* * *

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaa~!" Zero was in awe to the sparkling treats in the shops. Lire standing next to him couldn't help but feel the need to spoil the boy.

"So, Zero. Which one do you want?"

"Eh? Um….." The demon looked long and hard at every single. "That one."

"Only a small little jawbreaker?" Jin remarked curiously. "Are you sure that's all you want? You know, when I was a kid, I would try to buy as much as I could, especially when there were holiday discounts." He joked lightly, unintentionally smiling to his happy memory.

"I don't really eat sweets," The little wanderer told them, "But I think Gran should have one while he still demonie…"

"Demonie?" The red head repeated with question.

"Grandark's demon-sword hybrid form." Next to him, the lilac haired disciple corrected. "But I thought you said Grandark was a mean guy?"

The wanderer jerked, remembering what had happened, then shook his head. "Then I'll just buy it for myself!" The sudden change of plans mused the disciple that it made him snicker lightly as staring hungrily at the shop's window. Somehow, Lire couldn't help but chuckle.

"Asin, do you happen to have a sweet tooth?"

"Eh? The man merely blinked blankly. Was his desire to use the candy as a means of killing someone with poison showing on his face that vividly? "You're mistaken… Actually, I think everyone should have some candy… Especially when they're this cheap in this time of year…" He chuckled dryly, covering up his intentions as easily as he could. Of course, after months of being with the Grand Chase and acting like the friendly nice guy, none of them questioned him.

"Then, let's buy everyone a handful of sweets!" Jin yelped cheerfully, charging into the shop and dragging both Asin and Zero. The blond elf was left outside in shock to see that the red head had acted by himself and without her concerns, decided to spend more than she thought. Lire sighed. It was Christmas and most of the humans around did say it's the time of year to just release yourself of the troubles you have and have fun.

But she thought otherwise when the sight of another red head caught her attention. This red head had anxiety written all over her face. The elf couldn't just leave her there, mainly because the girl was also one of her best friend. "Hey Elesis!"

"Huh? Oh… Lire…" The knight responded dully, eyes still fixated on another object. When the archer got close enough, she could see what the red eyes have been gazing at instead of on her.

"You're planning on getting a pair of earrings? Elesis, I didn't know you were into those things."

"No… It's not like that…" Elesis sighed heavily, her hands tightened. The archer saw a glimpse of what seemed to be her rugged old money bag that she had seen the girl use since they've formed the Grand Chase.

"Then… What do you plan on using that money then?"

"W-well… The red head turned away, but Lire could see her ears had turned red. "I kind of want to use it to buy those earrings for my old man… Sieghart…. But you see… I thought I had saved enough for the Christmas discounts but the shop increased the base price right around thanksgiving... Now I've no idea what I should get for him for Christmas…"

The elf recalled that in Christmas, humans do give each other gifts as a means to show affections to another. She reached down to her pocket. "Then I'll give you some money from the treasury."

"But isn't that-"

"Elesis, let's just forget about the strict rules and have a bit of pleasure in our lives, okay?"

"…. Thanks…."

Lire grinned at the knight happily, knowing that she had done something right. But then a thought came to mind. "Elesis, can you do me a favor?"

* * *

"They were here, but now they're gone." Ryan reported, nose still sniffing the air. He then sneezed lightly to the cold, so Lime had patted him softly. It wasn't a surprise to the other guys to see that the elf had taken a glance at his back to make sure it wasn't the two of them.

"Why the hell was Zero at some candy store?!"

"Well, he didn't seem alone at all…" the druid said, "I can scent a little bit of Lire, Jin, Asin and Elesis…"

"Now that's a weird group… Those guys aren't usually with those girls…" Ronan commented.

"Neither is Zero being with them all…"

"But it would seem normal if every one of us hang out like real friends…" The holy knight pouted, only to be ignored by the others. She couldn't see why they couldn't get along with each other, despite being part of the same group with the same cause. "Maybe if you guys were like Sieghart and Dio, it wouldn't be so strange being in the same party…"

Just the mention of the two names in the same sentence caught the attention of the rest. Since when does Sieghart and Dio together equal friends? Well, they got the shock of their lives at the sight of demon and immortal at the end of the street, walking next to each other. And pretty close too….

Why the hell is Dio present in a street in Serdin? And he was even letting his presence show. And why the hell is Sieghart walking around and doesn't seem sleepy just before tea time? But more importantly, why are they just next to each other and not beating each other up?!

"Let's sneak up on them…"

* * *

So when they got close enough…

"What else is on that shopping list…?" The purple haired demon muttered as he dragged in his rake hand a heavy looking large bag. Next to him, the black haired immortal looked down onto the note he had been holding on.

"Confetti. I remember they sell them there." The gladiator lead the stygian- no wait… He dragged the stygian by the hand towards their next shop. Now that was another shocking moment to the sneaking party that watched them from afar.

Grandark snickered. Now this was definitely a sight to see. Who knew that the stygian could make a submissive face? And even more so, he wasn't even showing any signs of resistance. Something was definitely up and the sword didn't really care. That pathetically annoying brat who keeps bugging Zero when he's jobless is showing a weak expression.

Though, something did tick him off. It wasn't he who forced the demon to make such a face. Nevertheless, he merely growled to himself. Watching this was already a priceless sight.

Then he blinked. Had he ever been the type to hold back? Sure, he understood watching had its advantages, but now he had a body, why wasn't he running after them and causing such a rucus? Or why wasn't he living the moment whilst he was still having this demonic form? He had already complained to Zero for years about the fact being a sword was a bore and unfitting for the likes of him. Had he already accustomed himself to the life of a still sword?

Grandark grunted to himself. This was better, he thought. The transformation was temporary anyways. He had spent years trying to get used to being a sword. He'll be pissed at himself if a mere moment had to destroy it all. On the other hand, he was at disgust to himself that he had actually admitted getting used to being a sword. That meant that he was fine being dependent on Zero. 'Now that's a much terrifying shock…'

Then again, being dependent on Zero was better than nothing. The demon was submissive and obedient, unlike the rest of the idiots he's seen in his lifetime. And besides, Zero was faithful to him (except that time when he played Prime Knight. Boy, did the sword give him the punishment of a lifetime). It was actually quite odd that the wanderer had gone through his constant sadistic treatment without any objections, now that he thought about it (yes, he had actually ignored that fact it all these years since the wanderer never complained).

"Aww… How nice. They're holding hands like best friends…" Lime gasped as she looked through a pair of binoculars that had come out of nowhere. Again, another blow seemed to have terrified the two men, whilst Grandark grew more curious to this new change of relationship. In disbelief, Rolan had grabbed them off of the holy knight and looked at the situation himself.

"Oh lord… What's going to happen to the world?! Dio and Sieghart are really holding hands!"

"W-what the hell?!" The spell knight's yowl in terror was loud that Dio had jolted and faced them. Strangely enough, he was still holding onto the gladiator's hand and had dragged the man to turn around as well. "Shit! We're found! I thought you said that no one was going to be here around now!"

"I said _normally_! _NORMALLY_!" The gladiator growled back noticing the sight of blue, orange and blond hair. Then he blinked in vex when the sight of a certain green haired demon was in his vision. "And does that green haired metal thing seem normal to you?!

"Grandark's human again?!"

"I ain't a bloody human, brat! I am a demon!" Grandark growled back, his thorns bursting out of his body in anger, ripping apart the wanderer's clothes more than what he had already done.

"Now calm down, you guys!" Lime immediately came in between them. "We're all friends here! So we should talk! Not resort to violence!"

Inside the two bystander's hearts, they thought she was definitely a crazy to go in between the superpowers. But then they thought otherwise at the sight of Sieghart sighing in reluctance.

"… Lime's right… We can't fight…"

"Ha! Gone soft, haven't you?! Or are you scared that I'll beat you up again?!"

"No.. Seriously, Grandark…" Dio groaned, lifting the hand he had been holding onto Sieghart's. Four pair of eyes then saw a brightly colored wrapper that entwined them together. A small note was attached on it.

_'Do not open pull apart. Explosives are wrapped inside. – Love Amy & Ley. '_

* * *

"Sorry to make you guys carry a lot of the stuff…" Apologetically she said to the combatants. They merely grunted.

"It's alright. We had fun." Jin smiled at the female archer. On the other hand, Asin grunted.

"Yeah… It's okay.." The disciple blinked. Actually, he wasn't really that happy. His attempt to rid of Jin had been interrupted when Elesis came and had dragged Zero to each and every food store after hearing the fact that Zero had not only turned into a kid, she had never seen him eat high standard delicacies. So much for using the child to make an 'accident'. They heard that the knight would bring the little wanderer home afterwards. "So, Lire.. What's with all these stuff? I thought we were just going to buy some treats?"

"We did buy some treats." She said bluntly, leading them towards an empty hall. After commanding them to leave the things there, a white haired woman happened to walk in with some gift wrappers.

"Rin! Just in time!"

"Well, Elesis had told me to bring these over to you whilst she took care of… A strange little child…" The priestess sighed. "They had scared me by jumping out of nowhere as I was praying…"

"… Interesting. It seems that there are a lot of people in the Grand Chase who aren't bothered to prepare for Christmas..." Asin stared at the girl blankly. Actually, why did he care? He didn't really celebrate the festival himself, especially after the death of his former master. There wasn't really a need to do so anymore.

Rin had thought the same as well. For years she had lived and died and lived again, seeing newer unfamiliar faces each time. How could she just butt in to their lives and celebrate such a fest once more? It wasn't just tiresome. She felt that every time she celebrated it, it was going to be another memory burned into her that was going to make her feel depressed as she lives on, leaving her comrades behind.

"Initially, we usually went our separate ways for a bit in Christmas." Lire grabbed the wrappers. "But it's time to change that tradition!"

* * *

"OUCH!" He yelped in pain after bumping into something. Zero then growled. "This is no fun! I hate being short!"

"I told you to stop running around. You'll bump less." Elesis scolded the little demon from around the corner. When she took the turn into another hallway, she bashed into something. "OW! What the hell?! A wall isn't supposed to be here!"

"No, but I'm here." She blinked at the sight of brown hair. A thief looked at her in boredom. Next to him, Rufus had picked up Zero.

"Looks like Zero's found us instead…." The bounty stared the wanderer, curious at how little he had become. "And Arme was right. He looks funny as a little kid…"

"Then we'll have to tell her to stop searching in the castle grounds then." He grunted to the bounty hunter. After seeing Rufus nod, he looked at the wanderer. "And you are going to be grounded."

"Wha….?! Why?! I didn't do anything bad!" Zero whined in protest, trying to squirm out of the silverette's grasp but to no avail.

"You got the most important person to you worried sick." Lass said, "Grandark's still out there and looking for you because you ran off from him."

"Eh….? But…" The masked child had looked down in sadness, ears drooping down as well. The three chasers around him questioned whether demon ears could really move that way, especially Rufus as he was a demon himself, though a different kind.

Then Rufus jerked in surprise. He whispered to the other two. "He's freakin crying!"

"I'm sorry…!" The little demon wailed with tears overflowing from under his bandages, wetting them in the process. "I didn't mean to… Grandark was being mean to me and… And… And…"

"So? He's always mean and evil to everyone else. You of all people should know." The thief retorted harshly, silencing the boy. "But the difference is that that guy actually _likes_ you and _hates_ the rest of us. I mean, he must be frantically searching for you this very moment…"

"That's because I can only wield him…"

"Which makes you more special to him than anyone else." He pointed out. Instantly, the wanderer's ears perked up and it was obvious that his spirits was lifted. Zero then struggled in Lass' arms. "I wanna say I'm sorry to Grandark!"

"O-okay…" The brunette responded and set down the demon. As he walked off, the three chasers followed him from behind. "That was freaky, Lass… What in Haros' name did you just do?"

"Kids are really easy to handle." The silver haired man spoke. Then he couldn't help but smirk slyly. "What? You seriously freaked out when he started to cry? And here I thought you were a great bounty hunter."

"Shut it, Isolet." Rufus smacked the man. "Unless you want me to talk about your incident with-"

"Say nothing and I'll say nothing as well…" Lass growled back. They blinked to each other and their silent deal was forged.

Meanwhile, in Elesis's mind, it was all blank. 'Damn it… What the hell just happened?!'

* * *

As the four walked through the hallways, they halted with surprise to see Mari, Arme and Knightmaster standing before the doors of a miscellaneous room (built for miscellaneous purposes), anxious to open the door.

"What's up?"

"A guard had told us to report ourselves here… But we're still not so sure if it was Ley and Amy's doings…"

"Oh, right!" Elesis chirped from behind the three men. "Lire told me to gather everyone into the miscellaneous room. She said she needed to speak with everyone about something."

"….Elesis, did you just remember this?" Arme groaned as she saw the girl glancing away and chuckling sheepishly. She then noticed the little wanderer in front of them. "Oh Zero! There you are!"

"Arme! Where's Grandark?! I wanna say I'm sorry to him for running off!"

"I'm right here, brat." A hiss of irk came from the other side of the hallways. Grandark was leading a party that consisted a Lime with food supplies, a dead shivering Ronan, a still-cowering Ryan and an annoyed Dio and a lifeless Sieghart who both carried some heavy bags.

"Grandark!" He squeaked happily, running towards the large demon. Ryan was shocked at the new size of the wanderer, being one who wasn't explained about Zero's part of this weird transformation. On the other hand, Dio and Sieghart couldn't help but start laughing at the minute wanderer.

The first thing that the sword hybrid did was to grab the little demon by the head before he managed to hug him. "What? You expect me to let you hold me after running away like that?!"

"…. I'm sorry, Grandark… I was bad…" Zero then reached for his pocket and took out a nicely wrapped jawbreaker that he saw earlier that day. "Here."

The sword, having never experiencing something like this, just stared at the object awkwardly. "What the hell is that?"

"It is a jawbreaker, you ass." Dio snorted behind him. "Just take it and eat it before I throw up at this dramatic shit!"

"Dramatic shit? Says the guy who's got himself married with an idiot immortal."

"I AIN'T MARRIED TO HIM! WE'RE STUCK TOGETHER BY EXPLOSIVES THAT _LEY_ MADE!" The demon yelled back. Next to him, Sieghart sighed. Honestly, he wouldn't mind ripping apart this connection and getting hurt by the explosion, particularly because he was immortal. But this was Ley they were talking about. The woman knew that he was immortal so she wouldn't just make normal explosives. And after tying the two together, she had them do Amy's lousy errands around town, buying useless decorative things.

"Sieghart! Dio!" Mari perked up at the sight of them, remembering her cause to stay behind. "I had finished analyzing the kind of gunpowder she used in those wrapping paper."

Their attention was immediately caught by the rune caster. The stygian yelped. "What is it?! I can finally be free from this and stop obeying that bitch's orders!"

"It's just shock-sensitive, chemically-impregnated card strip."

"What the hell is-" Before Dio could finish asking, Sieghart immediately perked up in anger and shoved the demon away from him. The wrapper ripped apart and a light pop sound was made.

"It was just some shitty Christmas cracker bombs…" Rage aura leaked out of the gladiator in tremendous amounts.

"Awesome! Everyone's here~!" The sinister voice of certain summoner chilled everyone's spine. In a flash of white, a tall handsome looking demon had appeared before the whole lot.

"J-Jeeves!"

"I apologize for this beforehand." The demon bowed before he punched the ground in front of them. The shock had caused the standing chasers to collapse backwards and on to the large door of the miscellaneous room. Due to their sudden head-on collision, it slammed open.

"Kyaa!" Lire's startled screech had startled everyone who had fallen into the room. As they looked up, they saw her with Asin, Jin and Rin whom surrounded a massive pile of neatly wrapped presents. "Errr…. Surprise?" She stuttered.

"Presents…?"

In a flash, Jeeves had jumped in between the pile of bodies and picked up the objects that Lime, Sieghart and Dio had bought. Another of his sudden flashy movements and the whole room had suddenly turned into a gorgeous banquet hall, decorated with a festive warmth and tables decked with delicious food, ready to hold any party. But to be specific, a Christmas party as in the middle of the room stood a simple Christmas tree with the presents wrapped underneath it.

"It's a success~!" Ley and Amy busted in from another entrance, decked in a flirty red and white two piece. "MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!"

"What in Samsara's name is going on, Von Crimson River?! Aruha?!" Knightmaster was the first to react in the sudden change of everything. Amy blinked and smiled happily.

"We're having a Christmas Party. What does it look like?" The dancer grinned and pulled the blond knight deeper into the room. "Because, I heard that a lot of people were leaving the castle this Christmas, Ley and I planned an early Christmas party."

The summoner giggled. "So we gambled on luck that everything would lead to another. Sure enough, Lire brought in some presents. Sieghart and Dio had brought in some decorations and Lime brought food."

"Then why the bloody hell did you change Zero into a kid?!" The sword growled in anger, showing the little demon that he still held by his head towards them. Ley shrugged, pointing her finger to her comrade who's grin got brighter.

"Silly, it's because every time we hold a party, you two always seem to just stick to a corner and drink quietly. Now Zero's a kid and Grandark, you're a… 'Demonie'…?" From the back, a certain lilac haired man had corrected her though was left ignored. "And we can enjoy the festive fun!"

Of course, everyone at first was glaring daggers at them. But gradually, all seemed to have calmed down. Especially after Zero squeaked an eye opener. "I thought Ley said that Christmas was annual tradition where they celebrate togetherness and give presents to those they care about…." His hand was still clutching on to the small gift for the hybrid.

Grandark looked at him awkwardly again. Then snatched the candy off of the small demon and immediately chucked it into his mouth. After that he put down the boy and dragged him towards the table of food. A few silent seconds later, he turned towards them.

"What? Am I going to be the only one eating? Cause seriously, I don't mind filling myself up with human crap after years of not eating at all…"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh, joining in with the pair of demons.

* * *

Knightmaster took off her helmet, letting her blond hair flow out beautifully. She felt relaxed at some point, watching everyone just chatting away, laughing, dancing (and those who were old enough, drinking heavily). She then found herself in between the pair of girls who had plotted this whole thing. "Ley. Amy. You could've consulted to me in the first place… I plan a much organized party that the both of you."

"Oh, but what fun could that be?" The demon chuckled. "This was meant as our Christmas surprise, you see… To bring everyone together. If we followed your tactic, more than a handful of the Grand Chase wouldn't come to this party."

"Yeap. Yeap." The pink haired girl agreed immediately. "Besides… Who wouldn't want to see a different, more innocent and childish Zero?"

"Actually… How did you manage to ambush them and turn them to what they were now?" Out of nowhere, Mari had approached them. She was exceptionally curious to how the pair who were less competent that she was could easily change the settings of her machine.

"Oh... We only used that thing to change Grandark. I had Jeeves give up some of his energy." Ley huffed, seeing the awesome demon butler show off his muscles at the far end. "Then I got him to find me something similar to a transformation potion to change Zero into a kid from the underworld. It should wear off in…"

POOF

"… Huh…?" Zero grunted in astonishment to the sudden change of pretty much everything into normal; from senses to mentality to.. "AAArrrrgh….."

"Z-zero, what's wrong?!" A chaser had approached him, only to be growled at by his sword hybrid whom immediately slinked around him protectively. Even from the other side, Knightmaster had jolted in reaction, only to be halted by the summoner.

"A mere side effect of the potion. Headache and temporary memory loss. Nothing too harmful."

"… What…." The wanderer groaned in angst. "… What happened…?"

"Well, Zero, good to see you've returned to your normal state." Grandark snorted as a matter-of-factly, "You see, a lot of shit happened and now you're a full grown, naked demon in the middle of a Christmas party."

"What?!" Instantly, Zero had covered himself up with Grandark's tail, face turning completely red since the hand-me-down clothes he had been wearing were too small for him and somehow ripped apart. A cape was passed towards him and he groaned whilst he covered himself up in the fabric. "… How the…" Memories of the day had slowly replayed into his mind, making him feel more remorse to the unlikely actions he had done. "…"

"So now you're repenting on everything?" Grandark grunted. "Now that is the you I'm very used to…"

"I apologize for my childish and selfish actions and-" The wanderer was interrupted when a small gift box had landed onto his hands. He looked up to see Grandark, uncaringly staring off to another part of the room.

"Before you ask, I didn't steal it. I used the immortal idiot's money when we were out in the shopping district." He grunted. Then the sword ignored anything else as he continued to dive into the endless food that was spread out on the table. Zero stared at it and then to the sword, then to the present once more.

He couldn't help but have mixed feelings. He felt tickled inside of him, that Grandark would do something like this. And he also felt reluctant. Because the wanderer, without opening his gift, could tell what was the content inside by feeling it's shape.

But Zero thought that it was alright. The sword always had this weird way of showing his affections…

'A collar? Does it mean I belong to him?… I guess it beats a jawbreaker…'

Merry Christmas…

[END]

* * *

So... yeah... merry christmas... I'm getting crazy because of the christmas songs so they made me make such a horrid fanfic... I dont even know why i put in the three characters i don't even usually write about... and i guess i did go out of character for most multiple times...  
... But Ryan's misfortune is all my fault. :3  
... so was Dio's and Sieggie's... But that doesn't mean I ship any mutual relationship between them...  
And Zero ended up naked at the end... That was inevitable.


End file.
